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Mini 2 Tracking compared to "legacy" InReach devices

JasonPursell
over 3 years ago

I've used the mini, explorer+, and SE InReach devices and have gotten very used to the tracking system with mapshare and earthmate app.  However, i just got the mini 2 and things are fundamentally different. I was playing around with tracking on the Mini 2 and noticed major differences. 

Firstly, I should say that collections now make a lot more since they are prominent in the Explore app. They didn't exist in earthmate app.

Tracking on older devices was divided into Tracking points and log points.  Both tracking points and log points would be displayed on the Earthmate app map. However, on the mini 2, tracking is made up of tracking points and activity points. The mini 2 uses the Explore app and only the Activity "path" is displayed. The tracking points are not displayed on the Explore app map.  The track points are sent via satellite to the mapshare.

Another unexpected thing. After tracking started and stopped and everything is synced to the cloud -- the Explore app only shows the Activity, but not the new track in the library. However, both the new activity and the new track are shown in the library on the Explore website (and mapshare). So, there is this weird disconnect between what is actually IN the collection.

Explore App (after completing tracking):

Explore website/mapshare:

is this expected behavior?  As a long distance hiker I am interested interested in the tracking path. I’m trying to understand this new way of tracking. Is the activity path supposed to merge with or make the track path more accurate? If not, then the activity path just seems to junk up my mapshare page.

also, why isn’t there a document for people like me coming from the “old” way. Seems like a gap in the documentation.

thank you 

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Hello, you are correct that it is done a bit differntly on the mini 2. I would recommend looking over the following article for a better understanding of what the mini 2 does for tracking and activities Getting Started With Tracking on an inReach Mini 2. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Leslie

    Thank you. I did read that and it's very informative. However, it fails to address some obvious questions for people who are upgrading from the "old way."  I hope my questions below can be helpful. I don't want to seem overly critical. So far I'm loving the increased battery life and the UI improvements. Everything about the experience is an improvement on the Mini 1 (and Explorer+) for me. It's just the change in behavior without proper documentation that is throwing me off.

    Such as:

    1. What was the reason for moving away from logging points?

    2. How does removing logging points in favor of activity points change the user's experience for the better?

    3. Why can't we just disable Activity tracking completely if we only want to mimic the "old" behavior? Wouldn't that increase battery life further? Or is the Mini 2 efficient enough that creating an Activity is almost free, so why not just create it and decide if you want to keep it after tracking is stopped?

    4. The wording in the article is confusing with regards to "Discarding."  If I choose to Discard ("clear the current track"), does that delete the Activity path or the tracking (Sent) points or both? Note: this is something i can test, but the documentation should address this, since it frequently uses Activity and Track interchangeably.

    5. If we can discard the Activity after tracking and know that the tracking points are NOT deleted, then does that mean that we have infinite tracking points (as long as the inreach was able to send to the cloud)?

    6. Why does Mapshare show the track points, but Explore App doesn't (like Earthmate did)? It's clear in the article that it only shows in Mapshare, but why? Why can it roundtrip Activities to Explore app Library collections, but not Tracks too?

    7. Mobile Mapshare doesn't show Activity paths, but desktop Mapshare does? Why?

    8. So far in my testing I see the Activity track behaves unexpectedly. For example, I have Send Interval at 10 minutes and Activity Recording at Standard. The documentation says that this will result in activity logging at the same interval as send interval. I noticed that it sometimes wavers from the track line. Also Explore app shows many points in the Activity in the Library Collection.

    Some illustrations to supplement questions:

    (related to question 8) Why are there so many points for the activity if they basically just match the tracking lines? notice that the activity didn't actually track me on the road, but cut corners? Which according to the documentation is expected, but you don't need 65 points for that:

    Here shows the mapshare MOBILE view. Only shows the tracking path, but not activity path (related to question  7):

    Why can't we see this in the Explore mobile App like we did in Earthmate (question 6)?

    Here show the mapshare DESKTOP view. shows both tracking and activity paths (related to question  7):

    Here is an example of the Activity path not matching the tracking path. It seems very inconsistent (related to question 8):

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I will personal message you to gather more information from you. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Leslie

      Please be sure to come back and post your ultimate reply here.  The answers to these questions will be very helpful for others.  Thanks.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to P_W_P

    I will. Garmin-Leslie is going above and beyond in the background gathering and compiling some information. I will post back with some info as soon as I can.

  • +1 over 3 years ago

    Comparing the inReach Mini 2 With the Original inReach Mini

    1. What was the reason for moving away from logging points?
    2. How does removing logging points in favor of activity points change the user's experience for the better?

    Question 1 & 2 the answers are going to be similar. Activity recording is the new term for what is previously known as the log interval. It is going to function in the same manner in that it controls what is stored on the device. The term and format have changed to align with other styles in our product segments. It has been changed for efficiency, and to make the file sizes smaller as fit files take up less storage space.

    1. Why can't we just disable Activity tracking completely if we only want to mimic the "old" behavior? Wouldn't that increase battery life further? Or is the Mini 2 efficient enough that creating an Activity is almost free, so why not just create it and decide if you want to keep it after tracking is stopped?

    Because of the newly added accelerometer the battery life is greatly increased on the mini 2. Activity Recording set to Standard detail will have minimal effect on the battery life compared to the send interval. You have options to change the tracking settings for both the send interval and activity recording to help save battery life. Improving the Battery Life of Garmin inReach Products.

    1. The wording in the article is confusing with regards to "Discarding."  If I choose to Discard ("clear the current track"), does that delete the Activity path or the tracking (Sent) points or both? Note: this is something i can test, but the documentation should address this, since it frequently uses Activity and Track interchangeably.
    2. If we can discard the Activity after tracking and know that the tracking points are NOT deleted, then does that mean that we have infinite tracking points (as long as the inreach was able to send to the cloud)?

    I will address 4 & 5 together as well. If you stop tracking it will ask you to discard, which discards only the activity that was recorded on the device. Track points sent to Mapshare will not be affected, and there is no specific limit on the number of points that can be sent to Mapshare. When you choose to start tracking, the send interval starts sharing points to Mapshare, and activity recording starts storing an activity on the device. When you stop tracking, the device will stop sending points to Mapshare and will stop the activity that was being recorded. The Mini 2 is limited to 200 activity files (activity recordings) able to be loaded to the memory of the device, but the points able to be added to a single activity file is 99,999-point limit.

     

    Reples to the final answers can be found below. 

    1. Why does Mapshare show the track points, but Explore App doesn't (like Earthmate did)? It's clear in the article that it only shows in Mapshare, but why? Why can’t it roundtrip Activities to Explore app Library collections, but not Tracks too?

    The mini 2 just records in Fit so it will be saved as an activity. This will be why it does not show under tracks. MapShare shows both because of the recorded Activity & the sent Track syncing to MapShare, and the Explore app only shows what it pulled from the Mini 2 which is the recorded Activity.

    1. Mobile Mapshare doesn't show Activity paths, but desktop Mapshare does? Why?

    We're sorry to hear the mobile version of the MapShare page you're viewing doesn't show activities, but desktop version does.

    At this time, this is working as intended as the Desktop mobile version provides more filter options.

    However, we're always looking for ways to improve our products and the programs and apps that are used with them.

    We sincerely appreciate your feedback on this, and it's been passed along to the appropriate teams for future consideration.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    What I have found using Mini (not Mini 2) and Instinct Solar watch together (I believe it's related to your questions about Mini 2):

    1) since I bought Instinct Solar I use it for what we (Mini users) used to call logging and I stopped using Mini for this purpose. Instinct has all the logging features of Mini 2 and creates Activities instead of Tracks and works with the Explore App.

    2) Tracks previously created by Mini by default are visible on explore.garmin.com, but not in the Explore App. I had to convert them from 'circle' to 'triangle' tracks to make them visible in the Explore App https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=HwdKnp9JN42vQrM61lj1d6

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    What I have found using Mini (not Mini 2) and Instinct Solar watch together (I believe it's related to your questions about Mini 2):

    1) since I bought Instinct Solar I use it for what we (Mini users) used to call logging and I stopped using Mini for this purpose. Instinct has all the logging features of Mini 2 and creates Activities instead of Tracks and works with the Explore App.

    2) Tracks previously created by Mini by default are visible on explore.garmin.com, but not in the Explore App. I had to convert them from 'circle' to 'triangle' tracks to make them visible in the Explore App https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=HwdKnp9JN42vQrM61lj1d6

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin-Leslie

    Would it be possible to provide an answer to question #8 by  too? I migrated from a Mini 1 to a Mini 2 as well, and am equally baffled by the behaviour I'm seeing with regards to the recording of "activity points" versus "tracking points". When recording an activity (track? route? course? The use of words with virtually identical meanings to designate significantly different features is even more confusing, by the way), I noticed that the Mini 2 logs about a dozen activity points clustered somewhat randomly either before, after, or around the tracking point.

    I'm using a 10 minute tracking interval and a "standard" activity recording setting, which -- according to the "Getting started with tracking" post you linked to -- means that the activity recording interval will also be set to 10 minutes.

    What is the point (no pun intended) of recording all these activity points in the first place if the recording interval is the same for both activity and tracking points?

    Thanks!

    Example (circle is tracking point, triangles are activity points -- and no, I did not actually follow the track indicated by the activity points, but rather sat stationary for about five minutes):

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to MushyTomato

    Hello, if you read his response he answered #8 himself so I did not have an answer to post regarding it. If you want your activity and tracking to match more cloesely you will need to set the activty detail to highest.